Joseph Staten

Joseph Staten
Staten (left) with Eric Nylund (right) at Comic-Con International 2007
Born	San Francisco, California
Occupation	Writer and cinematic director
Employer	Microsoft Studios
Known for	Halo: Contact Harvest and cinematics for all Halo games by Bungie

Joseph Michael Staten is an American writer.

At Bungie, Staten served as director of cinematics for the studio's games, including the Halo series; he would write mission scripts and movie dialogue for the titles. He has also been involved in managing the expansion of the Halo franchise to other game studios and producers, including Peter Jackson's Wingnut Interactive. Though not a published author previously, Tor Books approached Staten to write the fifth Halo novelization, Halo: Contact Harvest. Released in 2007, the novel reached #3 on The New York Times bestseller list in the first week of its release and received positive reviews. Staten's latest project is a new game series entitled Destiny, a first-person shooter. Staten rejoined Microsoft Studios as a senior creative director on January 9, 2014.

Joseph Staten is the son of a minister who is a professor of theology and philosophy of religion. He was born in San Francisco, California. Staten entered Northwestern University in 1990 with the aspiration of becoming a professional actor. Realizing he was not leading man material, he switched his focus to other subjects and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in communication and international studies in 1994. Staten also has studied at the University of Chicago, where he received a Master of Arts degree in international relations in 1997.